£1200 gas bill

[happyhunt]

just been informed by scottish gas that the £90 d/d I was paying a month was for electric only and not gas, the d/d was set up to cover both, that was 16 months ago, new bill arrived yesterday for £1200 , they have very kindly reduced the bill to only last 12 months payments.

anybody else have any experiances like this and what(if any ) are my legal options, they have said its all there fault and its been a clerical error, yet they have still come and read the meter every 3 months.

bunch of @@@@ :yp:

[henry d]

Citizens advice bureau, don`t rely on someones reply here, just use them as guides........... my tuppence anyhoo !

[steve_b_wales]

As above. Get professional advice. You may find that you won't have to pay.

[lord_seagrave]

just been informed by scottish gas that the £90 d/d I was paying a month was for electric only and not gas, the d/d was set up to cover both, that was 16 months ago, new bill arrived yesterday for £1200 , they have very kindly reduced the bill to only last 12 months payments.

anybody else have any experiances like this and what(if any ) are my legal options, they have said its all there fault and its been a clerical error, yet they have still come and read the meter every 3 months.

bunch of @@@@ :yp:

 

Stay calm.

 

Give them a call and

 

1) ask them how much you need to increase your monthly DD by to cover the electricity and gas that you actually use over the course of the year. Given that they've got your useage for the last 16 months this should be straightforward (in view of the fact that you consume SG gas and electricity, are you entitled to any kind of special rate?);

 

2) ask them how much you should pay each month towards the amount that you owe for the gas you have used; since they admit that the oversight is theirs, they should be prepared to let you pay a smallish amount each month, and should definitely not charge you interest;

 

3) get the name of the person you talk to and ask SG to send you a letter/statement confirming the new payments etc.

 

This seems to be the most equitable resolution to the situation. You have used gas that you have not paid for, but they have made an error and not charged you.

 

Remember - nice and friendly.

 

 

LS

[happyhunt]

thanks for that, I have let the wife talk to them otherwise I would have a coronory,we will contact cit/adv and gas watch dog on tuesday about the situation.

with the total d/d added up it works out about £217 a month for both, which they say we should be paying to cover the bills, this seems very excessive, there is only 2 of use in the house and we both work all day.

on top of this they have sent us a new electricy statement saying the new payment will be .....£4 a month, somethings not right here.

I fear it could be a lean shooting season if I do have to pay out such a large sum.

[rimfire4969]

I had a simular experience with British Gas, I contacted the energy ombudsman explained the situation, i was told to put my complaint in writing to British Gas and give them a time limit to reply. Basicly they wrote off just over £1000.00.

 

I have been told that if a energy company gets X amount of complaints they then get fined by the ombudsman and its cheaper to write off some so you don't go through with the complaint, I Don't know how true that is though.

[WGD]

ok fair enough it shouldn't have got to that, but do you not check what you're paying for? When it came to giving them 2 meter readings but only getting a bill for electricity (D/D or not, you still know whether you are in the black or the red and how you got there) did it not click?

 

Hope you get it sorted out, but given that fact I am paying £220 a month for gas and electricity why should they write it off because you can't check whether you're up to date or not? So they can pass the loss onto the rest of their customers....?

[mossy835]

the best thing two do is what i have done for years, is two have them both on cards,pay as you go ,no bills.

[happyhunt]

WGD

yes an oversight by me not to ensure we were paying the gas bill, ( which we thought we were )but when we first set it up it was a joint bill and some where in the past 16 months it has changed with us not realising it.

I know I get sick of reading bills when they come in, I usally just check the amount and put it in the draw,

maybe I am living in the dark ages when it comes to these sort of bills but £200 +a month is blatent theft for gas + electric as far as I am concerned.

these power companies will show billions of pounds profit which proves they are overcharging us ,wholesale gas price went up more than 50% last year and they passed that cost straight on to us, when the price fell back to normal levels early this year,what did the power companies reduce it by ........ 3-4%

I will certainly not shirk my responsibility to pay the bill, I am only asking for advice in what direction I should go , the bill will not be payed until it is confirmed that the amount is correct, once this is established it will be paid the same day.

MOSSY 835

thats not a bad idea :yp:

[rimfire4969]

Hope you get it sorted out, but given that fact I am paying £220 a month for gas and electricity why should they write it off because you can't check whether you're up to date or not? So they can pass the loss onto the rest of their customers....?

 

The reason my bill was big was for just over 12 months they estimated my bill. My meter is in one off my barns so i did not check it, i agree that i should of, but so should they. When i did finaly read it it was obviously way out. At this point they billed me. My argument with them is despite me asking them to read it and them failing to show up three times to appointments made by them. It is in their terms and conditions that they will read the meter. I also would like to add that the £1000.00 they wrote of for me is a drop in the ocean compared to their profits in the same year of £571 million.

[WGD]

I will certainly not shirk my responsibility to pay the bill, I am only asking for advice in what direction I should go , the bill will not be payed until it is confirmed that the amount is correct, once this is established it will be paid the same day. :yp:

 

Perhaps I put it a bit more abruptly than I should have, as can often be the way when you combine written word and a bad mood, apologies for any offence caused - I was not suggesting you would not pay the bill but the theme in the responses was one if "it's all their fault, don't pay a penny and see what you can get", which irked me.

 

£220 a month sticks in my throat big time, I don't live a castle - a normal 3 bed house - but I refuse to be cold in the dark and I like a hot shower so I have little option.

 

As I say, I hope you have a satisfactory outcome.

[hawkeye]

ok fair enough it shouldn't have got to that, but do you not check what you're paying for? When it came to giving them 2 meter readings but only getting a bill for electricity (D/D or not, you still know whether you are in the black or the red and how you got there) did it not click?

 

Hope you get it sorted out, but given that fact I am paying £220 a month for gas and electricity why should they write it off because you can't check whether you're up to date or not? So they can pass the loss onto the rest of their customers....?

 

 

I cannot remember the last time i had a bill i pay D/D amount is fixed at the start of the year then the following year i get a letter with new premium..

If when i get this letter i ring and ask they will tell me how many units ive used for gas and electricity...

[WGD]

I cannot remember the last time i had a bill i pay D/D amount is fixed at the start of the year then the following year i get a letter with new premium..

If when i get this letter i ring and ask they will tell me how many units ive used for gas and electricity...

 

Good for you.

 

I pay by DD and get a meter reading request every 90 days, which generates a bill and confirms where I am with my payments. If I don't give meter readings I get a bill confirming whether the meter readings are Estimated or Actual.

[Boromir]

I take it the £200+ electricity bill is people with families living. I only pay £65 Electricity every 3 months and £10 gas a month

[Lucky-shot]

do you live in a mansion .....at £100 a month that is very high...... or do you have the olympic torch burning in your back garden

[BSA-airgunner]

turn your thermostat down

[alexr]

do you live in a mansion .....at £100 a month that is very high...... or do you have the olympic torch burning in your back garden

 

 

I take it you have never lived through a winter in THE NORTH. £ 100 a month for gas could be about right. However check two things.

 

1) is your metre imperial or metric.

2) Check your bill and see if you are you being charged for the right metre.

 

I know that sounds daft, but in the late 90's or early 00's a lot of metres were changed from imperial to metric and no records were kept. If you have a metric metre and you are being charged as if it is imperial they use a multiplier of just short of 2. We found this out recently and after chalanging the provider got a rebate of £ 2000 for the last three years.

Edited August 31, 2009 by alexr